When you buy a car, you’re making an investment. But along the way, what you add to your vehicle or how you maintain it could add value or decrease the value of your vehicle. Preventative vehicle maintenance and routine service can add value to your vehicle in the end as you preserve the condition and quality over time. By spending money on maintenance and some upgrades, you can improve your car’s reliability and overall life expectancy. You can also reduce safety risks and expensive repairs. Regular oil changes, replacing worn-out tires, and getting your wheel alignments periodically are vital. Yet, adding other upgrades could actually reduce your car’s value.

A recent article from Autoblog shares some expensive (really expensive!) upgrades that don’t increase your car’s value at all though many think they would. Putting money into these upgrades could actually hurt your car’s value or performance.  What are they? Keep reading…

First, aftermarket wheels. Sure, they can make a car look more sporty, expensive or maybe even luxurious and will turn heads, but the thousands of dollars you’ll spend on them won’t add to resale value. Some even make the ride less comfortable. With larger wheels, the low-profile tires reduce the cushion between the car and the road. You will feel more vibration as your travel over cracks, potholes and road debris. Sounds like you won’t be paying for comfort in this case!

Second, a custom paint job. Go ahead and be creative. Be original. But don’t be surprised when this expensive paint job doesn’t match up to factory originals or the resale value isn’t what you expected. The next owners may not be as brave as you.

Third, dark tint. Spending money on tinted windows makes your vehicle look sleek but be sure that you know your state’s legal limits before wasting money. It gives you privacy and shade, but in many states dark tint is also illegal because it obstructs the driver’s ability to see the road. If the film is too dark, you could be paying several hundred dollars more to remove it without damaging your vehicle.

Fourth, custom seats. Again, you may want to be original and different when it comes to your car’s interior as well, but this can reduce your car’s weight. It can also change sophisticated safety features that protect drivers in all sorts of different collisions. You don’t want to mess with important sensors and electronics that activate  airbags and other safety devices. Removing the factory seats can diminish the effectiveness of potentially life-saving technology.

Fifth, exhaust systems. Looking for a growl or more noise? That’s fine, but can be risky because some of these don’t meet the same quality standards as the vehicle’s manufacturer. Poor-quality exhaust systems can emit excess heat and corrode prematurely. Failing an emissions test due to a poor-quality exhaust modification can be very costly.

Spend your money wisely on things like preventative maintenance, oil changes and other routine services. It will keep your vehicle running smoothly, safely and efficiently while you have the pleasure of driving it and this alone will increase resale value due to its performance and condition. To read the full blog, click here http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/28/the-five-worst-car-investments/.